Rural Change And Public Policy

Rural Change and Public Policy: Eastern Europe, Latin America and Australia examines rural change and related public policies in three contrasting areas of the world to identify common problems and gain insight and understanding of the change process. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 15 chapters. Part I provides a conceptual background useful in examining rural development issues in an international perspective, focusing on economic development, usually the central question in public policy deliberations on rural areas. This part also emphasizes the interdependence between rural and urban areas as well as the importance of rural-urban regional inequity considerations. Part II deals with the critical role of government in influencing and directing rural change, while Part III surveys some of the changing attitudes and attitudinal responses of rural residents experiencing social, political, educational, and/or economic change. Part IV considers the broad issue of rural workers and employment opportunities, a critical issue in rural societies. Part V looks into the problems of land utilization and land tenure.

Public concern over land management has never been greater. This book provides a broad overview of the economics of rural land-use change, drawing attention to the meaningful role economic analysis can play in resolving public concern and supporting futur

The Handbook of Regional Science is a multi-volume reference work providing a state-of-the-art knowledge on regional science composed by renowned scientists in the field. The Handbook is intended to serve the academic needs of graduate students, and junior and senior scientists in regional science and related fields, with an interest in studying local and regional socio-economic issues. The multi-volume handbook seeks to cover the field of regional science comprehensively, including areas such as regional housing and labor markets, regional economic growth, innovation and regional economic development, new and evolutionary economic geography, location and interaction, the environment and natural resources, spatial analysis and geo-computation as well as spatial statistics and econometrics.

A key, intensifying change affecting rural areas in the last few decades has been a decline in the proportion of national populations whose principal livelihood is farming. The corresponding re-distribution of population has typically resulted in a net population loss to rural areas, and diversification of rural activity. The corporatization and technological modification of food production has prompted new policy challenges, and has bound rural and urban populations together in new relationships articulated in moral discourses of custodianship, food safety, and sustainability. Contributors to this volume came together in the attempt to stimulate collective insight into trends of rural change in Australia, New Zealand and Europe. The first two countries have been characterised by avowedly `neoliberal' rural policy - with considerable departures from it in practice; Europe, on the other hand, by a mix of policy measures which attempt to integrate land management and sustainability, diversification and maintenance of a competitive farming sector within an overarching policy framework more overtly, though only partially, oriented towards sustaining rural society. Aiming to build on research relating to the character of rural transitions, this volume offers substantive and critical contributions to the understanding of the sources of unpredictability, instability, and continuity, that underpin rural transition. The papers explore changes and continuities in policy, the governance of rural spaces, technological developments relating to rural areas and populations, and social forms of subjectivation and participation in increasingly diverse rural settings.

It has been my pleasure to work with a distinguished, committed,and cooperative group of contributors to this volume. They have taught me how to perform the editing role and put up with innumerable and probably insufferable suggestions. I have been privileged to work with exceptionally fine individuals in this endeavor and will count that among my many blessings.

The Geography of Rural Change provides a thorough examination of the processes and outcomes of rural change as a result of a period of major restructuring in developed market economies. After outlining the main dimensions of rural change, the book progresses from a discussion of theoretical insights into rural restructuring to a consideration of both the extensive use of rural land and the changing nature of rural economy and society. The text places an emphasis on relevant principles, concepts and theories of rural change, and these are supported by extensive case study evidence drawn from different parts of the developed world. The Geography of Rural Change is written for undergraduates taking courses in human geography, agricultural geography, rural geography, rural sociology, planning and agricultural economics.

"This book focuses on three multi-faceted aspects of rural sustainability: farms and farming, the remaking of rural communities and rural spaces, and policy and action in rural development. The research is focused on three global regions: North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, and Australia."--back cover.

This innovative resource offers a unique, multidisciplinary approach for the utilization of planning theory to eliminate health disparities in rural communities. The book provides tools in the public health, policy, and planning disciplines to help resolve significant differences in life expectancy and quality of life in these communities, concluding with a progressive vision for alleviating geographical health disparities on a local, national, and global scale. Chapters highlight models and approaches best suited to addressing this public health concern, suggesting action strategies focused around each of the three focus areas: 1. Public health: Elucidation of the contextual factors impacting the health of rural communities by: reporting statistical updates on a range of chronic and infectious diseases that disproportionately affect rural populations both globally and in the U.S.; providing discourse on the importance of addressing critical social determinants (global and national) that impede optimal health outcomes among rural populations; and, acknowledging the compositional factors of individuals who reside in rural spaces. 2. Public policy: Application of specific policy models to garner both public and political will towards sustainable policy change to improve healthy living in rural spaces. 3. Rural planning: Identification of national and international planning models that can be used to design strategic plans targeted to improve quality of life, create sustainable development, and establish economic well-being and growth in rural communities. Rural Health Disparities: Public Health, Policy, and Planning Approaches will find an engaged audience among non-profit organizations, planners, public health practitioners, policy analysts, and public interest groups, as well as rural health advocates and students enrolled in planning, public policy, and/or public health courses.

Rural Transformations and Development China in Context is a thoughtful book in both senses penetrating and packed with ideas. True to its title, it takes the reader through the main socio-economic and political changes of Chinese rural society. The book brings together a selected group of authoritative, international experts on agricultural development with particular reference to China. It is a good read for everyone, and an eminently recommendable text for professionals and students interested in issues of China s rural change. Peter Ho, University of Groningen, The Netherlands This is an insightful and excellent theoretical and empirical collection about China s contemporary agrarian transformation critically studied not in isolation from either the urban sector or the broader world, but in relation to these. It is a must-read for academics and development policy practitioners who are interested in agrarian and development issues in China in particular and the world more generally. Saturnino M. Borras Jr, Saint Mary s University, Canada Bringing together contributions by some of the leading Western scholars working on paths of rural transformation with studies by their counterparts in China, this book examines the value of contemporary development theories for understanding the specificities of China s trajectory of change. It is a first-class contribution both to Modern China studies and to the renaissance of international research on agrarian change that is now going on. It deserves a wide readership. John Harriss, Simon Fraser University at Vancouver, Canada Interesting comparative perspectives are coupled to extensive on-the-ground research in this exploration of the vast changes underway in China s villages. This book by 19 specialists pushes forward our knowledge of the circumstances and challenges faced by an eighth of humankind. Jonathan Unger, Australian National University This unique book explores the varied perspectives on contemporary processes of rural transformation and policy intervention in China. The expert contributors combine a critical review of current theoretical viewpoints and global debates with a series of case studies that document the specificities of China s pathways to change. Central issues focus on the dynamics of state peasant encounters; the diversification of labour and livelihoods; out-migration and the blurring of rural and urban scenarios; the significance of issues of value and capital and their gender implications; land ownership and sustainable resource management; struggles between administrative cadres and local actors; and the dilemmas of participatory development. Rural Transformations and Development China in Context will prove a fascinating and stimulating read for academics and researchers in the areas of Asian studies, development and agriculture, and public policy.

This book explores the notion of rurality and how it is used and produced in various contexts, including within populist politics which derives their legitimacy from the rural-urban divide. The gap between the ‘common people’ and the ‘elites’ is widening again as images of rurality are promoted as morally pure, unalienated and opposed to the cultural and economic globalization. This book examines how using certain images and projections of rurality produces ‘rural authenticity’, a concept propagated by various groups of people such as regional food producers, filmmakers, policymakers, and lobbyists. It seeks to answer questions such as: What is the rurality that these groups of people refer to? How is it produced? What are the purposes that it serves? Research in this book addresses these questions from the areas of both politics and policies of the ‘authentic rural’. The ‘politics’ refers to polarizations including politicians, social movements, and political events which accentuate the rural-urban divide and brings it back to the core of the societal conflict, while the ’policies’ focus on rural tourism, heritage industry, popular art and other areas where rurality is constantly produced and consumed. With international case studies from leading scholars in the field of rural studies, the book will appeal to geographers, sociologists, politicians, as well as those interested in the re-emergence of the rural-urban divide in politics and media. Chapter 8 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.